Walker inquest to visit Yuendumu

The inquest into the death of Indigenous teenager Kumanjayi Walker will spend two days in the remote Yuendumu community after what the Northern Territory coroner has described as a gracious and generous invitation.

The visit later this month will allow coroner Elisabeth Armitage to hear from community elders and others in what has been organised as a "listening experience".

Ms Armitage will also visit sites key to her inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the Warlpiri man's shooting there in November 2019.

The 19-year-old died after being shot three times by Constable Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest.

Const Rolfe was charged with murder but was acquitted after a Supreme Court trial.

"It is an incredibly generous invitation that has been offered. It is a gracious invitation," Ms Armitage told the inquest on Friday.

"I take it very much to heart that we are being welcomed into Yuendumu. 

"At the end of this process, however painful the process is, we do hope that we have a sense of hope.

"I am very pleased to be able to come to the community to listen to the hurt and the pain but also the plans for the future."

A schedule for the visit was outlined to the court which includes a community truth-telling meeting where locals will be free to air their views.

It also comes after plans to visit the town at the start of the inquest were scrapped amid objections from some in the community.

Following the two days in Yuendumu, the inquest will resume in Alice Springs when Cont Rolfe is expected to give evidence.

On Friday, the inquiry took more evidence of his recruitment to the NT force including his failure to disclose a disciplinary issue during his time in the army.

When he applied in 2016, Const Rolfe did not reveal that he had pleaded guilty to a military charge of theft and had been put on probation for two years as a result.

Senior Constable Kevin Agnew, who was on the interview panel, said the omission was significant and would have been considered deliberate.

He said he would not have recommended Const Rolfe be employed if he had known of the omission.

Sen Const Agnew also told of general issues with obtaining details of any applicant's service history from defence officials.

He said at one stage he stopped asking because "you wouldn't get anything back".

"I stopped asking for them because I thought it was a futile part of the recruitment process," he said.

Sen Const Agnew said while reports were again being requested as a mandatory part of the process, getting information from the defence force remained "haphazard".

In such circumstances, applicants were left in limbo, he said.

The inquest will resume in Yuendumu on November 14.